Daddy's Little Girl
by Crazyinulover
Summary: Ron takes this opportunity, to tell his three day old daughter his intentions as her father.


It was a sudden realization, three days after the birth, when Ron realizes that he is alone with his daughter for the first time. The constant swirl of well-meaning relatives has ended (although the flowers and owls keep coming), the arduous journey from St. Mungos to their small muggle flat is over, and Hermione lays exhausted in their bedroom. Ron on the other hand can't sleep.

Two months into the pregnancy when Hermione was getting weepy over knitted booties, Harry pulled Ron aside and whispered a phrase he had heard from his uncle "Children don't appear real to the father until they're in their arms." As Harry said this he held James tightly to his side. Ron just shrugged it off. The baby was real, and he was excited (slightly terrified) about beginning a family.

But in the quietness of their small living room, Ron can finally understand what Harry meant. His daughter, _his_ daughter, stares up at him from his arms. The affection and love he's been saving up since Hermione informed him (a rush of words shouted at him during dinner) that they were going to be parents pales in comparison to the rush of love he feels now.

Her hair is Weasley red, but her eyes brown like her mother's. Her nose is a small button and her mouth has remained in a firm set since birth (gurgling occasionally). Her brown eyes stare at whomever picks her up, examining them and trying to figure them out. He can already tell she's going to be as brilliant, observant, _logical_ as her Mother. She looks at her world with careful and complete interest, trying to learn as much as she can from her fixed spot in Ron's arms.

"You will never wear second-hand robes" The words slip from his mouth before he even means to. Deep seated resentments that were brushed away after a war suddenly come back to him, and he feels the need to tell his daughter that he will never do that to her. His parents love him- he knows that- but they weren't able to give him the life they wanted to give him. They were able to make sure he went to school, learned all he needed to know. They made sure he was brave and strong to face the trials that life gave him. But he never forgot the sound of his mother crying the day she gave him his first set of second hand robes for Hogwarts. She hid it well, but he could pretend too, that he was totally fine with being poor. Of course, more love and care went into one pair of pajama pants (carefully mended) then went into Harry's entire secondhand muggle wardrobe. Which was only given out of necessity, not out of love. This distinction carried him through school, but his daughter will never have to make it. The Weasleys aren't poor any more.

Now is a good time as any to let her know his intentions as her Father.

"You will never have a reason to fear anything as long as I have a say. You may have some irrational fears, or some say completely logical fears about spiders, but I will always protect you." Her brown eyes slowly blink as if in agreement. "Nobody will touch a hair on your head without answering me, and I pity the bloke who dare break your heart, because I will end him. I'm an auror, that's a promise."

It's like a flood now, he can't stop it. "I will never abandon you, ever. I will make sure that the freakishly sized brain you no doubt inherited from your mother will always be stimulated, through Hogwarts and whatever you need to learn here at home. You will never go hungry, you will never have to spend weeks living in tents with two blokes who don't quite understand you, unless that's your thing in which case you will have the best tent ever. I won't let a dark lord rise up to threaten your livelihood, and anyone who dare treat you like a second class citizen because of your muggle grandparents will face swift retribution."

Her hand curls around his finger, and he continues "I will give you siblings- eventually- but not so many that you feel overshadowed. I won't let you lose touch with your cousins who are frankly half as fantastic as you, don't tell Uncle Bill and Uncle Harry that I said that. You will never want for love or affection, because I will always be there to give it to you. I will not spoil you though-" He pauses and she blinks "Well maybe a little, but not to the point that I ruin your personality and make you horrible. You will be the best in everything you do because I will always believe in you."

"Your mum and I will argue a lot-" normally Hermione call it 'spirited discussions' but Ron saw no point in mincing words with a baby "but its our weird way of showing our love, and we will never split and we will never abandon you. "

He lifts her slightly, wary of her still forming bones. "And remember, all of my heart is yours, and I will love you forever. This is both a gift and a curse, because if you break my heart it will be on your shoulders, because I can do nothing but continue to love you. I will always be there for you, always."

He nods solemnly, and her eyes follow, she blinks once again and Ron likes to think that she smiled, but she's still too young to do so. He gently kisses her forehead, and like an acceptance to his promises, she drifts off into sleep. Ron wants to hold her closer, but knows that will cause her to wake again. Instead he leans back in the rocking chair and closes his eyes, daring sleep to overtake him.

"I promise you, Rose."


End file.
